In the Age of Enlightenment, people thought they lived in “the best of all possible worlds” because of the power of human reason. Armed with that belief, our naïve hero, Candide, ventures out into the big wide world expecting to find truth, beauty and wonder. He finds instead pestilence, plague, and pox (to name but a few)!
Some 40 fast-paced scenes whisk our hero around the globe—and us along with him—in a galloping, humorous and touching trip.
Where does he end up? Right back where he started … but with a slightly changed view of life. Yes, there’s evil. Yes, there’s good. And when it’s all tallied up, it’s not such a bad life after all. (It helps, of course, that he gets the girl in the end!)
Sung in English with projections above the stage.
Performances held at the Keller Auditorium.
CAST
| Candide | Jonathan Boyd |
| Voltaire / Pangloss / Cacambo / Martin | Robert Orth |
| Cunegonde | Rachele Gilmore |
| Governor / Vanderdendur / Ragotski | Mark A. Thomsen |
| Old Lady | Ann McMahon Quintero |
| Paquette | Caitlin Mathes |
| Maximilian | André Chiang |
| Conductor | Cal Stewart Kellogg |
| Stage Director | Christopher Mattaliano |
*This show contains adult themes and situations, may not be appropriate for children under thirteen
CANDIDE PLOT
Voltaire narrates the story of “Candide, or Optimism.”
Act I - We meet the four happiest young people in Westphalia: Maximilian (son of the Baron Thunder-ten-Tronck), Cunegonde (daughter of the Baron), Paquette (serving maid to the Baroness), and Candide (illegitimate cousin to the Baron’s family) (“Life is Happiness Indeed”). All four are students of the enigmatic tutor, Dr. Pangloss, who teaches them that they live in the best of all possible worlds (“The Best of All Possible Worlds”). Candide and Cunegonde discover love (“Oh, Happy We”), but Candide, being illegitimate and having no quarterings, is banished by the Baron when he asks for Cunegonde’s hand in marriage. Despondent, he takes comfort in Panglossian doctrine, and remains convinced that some good must come of his tragedy - in this, the best of all possible worlds (“It Must Be So”).
As he starts his journey, Candide meets two army officers, who trick him into joining the Bulgar army. He lives through a horrific battle, only to find Cunegonde’s body among the dead (“Candide’s Lament”). Bereft, he leaves Westphalia, and meets up again with Dr. Pangloss, the sole survivor of the Baron’s household. They are befriended by a kindly Anabaptist, who takes them on board his ship bound for Lisbon. When the ship sinks in a storm, they float on a plank to Lisbon. As they make landfall, a volcano erupts, causing an earthquake. Before the day is out, Candide is flogged, and Dr. Pangloss is hanged for his heretical views concerning Free Will (“Auto-de Fe”). Candide still believes that all must somehow be for the best (“It Must Be So”).
Candide travels to Paris, where he is shocked to find Cunegonde alive (“Glitter and Be Gay” “You Were Dead, You Know”). She tells him of her difficult life, for she is now a kept woman - lover to both, the wealthy Jew Don Issachar, and the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris. Candide inadvertently kills both men. With the help of Cunegonde’s companion, the Old Lady, they escape to Cadiz (“I Am Easily Assimilated”). There, Candide meets a half-caste South American named Cacambo, who tells him of opportunities to be found in the New World. With Cacambo on board, Candide, Cunegonde, and the Old Lady set sail for South America (“Quartet Finale”).
Act II - The Governor of Buenos Aires is pleased to inspect a shipment of new slaves, among them, Maximilian and Paquette (reports of their deaths having been greatly exaggerated). As Candide and Cunegonde arrive in the New World, the Governor is smitten with Cunegonde (“My Love”). And no sooner have the lovers arrived, that they must be separated again. Candide must flee to avoid execution for the murders committed in Paris, while Cunegonde is left to suffer a life of luxury and boredom as the Governor’s mistress (“Quiet”).
Candide and Cacambo flee Buenos Aires and wander for many days, eventually discovering the secret city of El Dorado. The friendly natives there give Candide several sheep laden with gold (“The Ballad of Eldorado”). Unfortunately, as Candide and trusty Cacambo make their way back to civilization, they lose all but two of the sheep. They arrive in the Dutch colony of Surinam, where they meet a merchant named Vanderdendur, and a bitter street cleaner named Martin (“Words, Words, Words”). Vanderdendur reminds Candide that he cannot return to Buenos Aires because of the price on his head. Candide sends Cacambo with one sheep’s worth of gold to ransom Cunegonde away from the Governor. They plan to meet again in Venice, a free state where their various troubles cannot follow.
The greedy Vanderdendur realizes what Candide’s sheep is carrying and keeps the animal on his ship, while selling Candide a leaky old wreck, which cannot stay afloat (“Bon Voyage”). Candide and Martin set sail. After a terrible storm at sea, Martin drowns, but Candide is rescued by a passing ship. He is amazed to discover that one of the galley slaves rowing the ship is his old tutor, Dr. Pangloss, who miraculously survived his hanging in Lisbon. Candide pays for Pangloss’ freedom, and they travel to Venice to find Cunegonde.
Once in Venice, Candide encounters Paquette (now a prostitute) and Maximilian (now Prefect of Police). Cacambo appears, explaining that he ransomed and rescued Cunegonde and the Old Lady, but they were attacked at sea by pirates, and now the ladies are owned by Prince Ragotski, head of the most notorious casino in Venice.
Candide rushes to the casino, where he finds a luxurious crowd of hoodlums and thieves, all in masks (“What’s The Use?”). A masked woman attempts to swindle him out of his remaining gold. As her mask falls, Candide is stunned to see Cunegonde. He finally breaks (“Nothing More Than This”).
Utterly disillusioned, Candide has had enough of the foolish Panglossian ideal. With what little is left of his gold, he buys a small farm outside Venice, where he hopes to make some sense of life (“Make Our Garden Grow”).
—Christopher Mattaliano
Too Many Geniuses: The Making of Bernstein’s Candide
“I had only one lyric in it … Thank God I wasn’t there while it was going on. There were too many geniuses at work.” --Dorothy Parker, contributing lyricist, 1956
“If you catch Lenny re-writing my lyrics, clip his piano wires!” --Richard Wilbur, contributing lyricist, 1956
“It seems to me I’ve been working on Candide all of my life…” --Lillian Hellman, Candide’s original librettist, 1956
“My direction skipped along with the effortless grace of a freight train heavy-laden on a steep gradient. As a result even the score was thrown out of key. Rossini and Cole Porter seemed to have been rearranging Götterdämmerung.” --Tyrone Guthrie, director on the 1956 opening
“Keep up your peckers!” --Tyrone Guthrie, exhorting the audience to be patient with the production, opening night, 1956
“I was almost knocked down by people trying to get out of the theater! --Lester Osterman, associate producer, 1956
Based upon Voltaire’s scathing satire of the same title, Bernstein’s Candide has wandered through the American theater almost as aimlessly as Voltaire’s hapless hero. Originally billed as a “comic operetta,” Candide opened on October 29, 1956 at Boston’s Colonial Theatre to mixed reviews. Already a darling of the American musical scene, Leonard Bernstein had collaborated with some of the most brilliant theatrical and literary figures of the time. The lyrics were by John La Touche and Richard Wilbur, with contributions from Dorothy Parker. The original libretto was adapted from Voltaire by Lillian Hellman. The libretto was Hellman’s first attempt for the musical stage and, fairly or unfairly, criticisms of this initial version of the show center largely around Hellman’s book, which, just as Voltaire’s had, used Candide’s blind faith in Dr. Pangloss’ philosophy of optimism to satirize current events: in mid-century America, for Hellman, this meant the blind paranoia of Senator McCarthy’s reign of terror.
Candide seems an unlikely candidate for the musical theater. Voltaire’s novel is a tight, episodic, globe-trotting 87 pages, seemingly impossible to adapt or produce. But it spoke uniquely to Hellman and Bernstein in the 1950s. Both artists had had run-ins with the McCarthy witch-hunts, and as Bernstein put it in 1989 during the recording of the “final revised version”:
“The particular evil which impelled Lillian Hellman to choose Candide and present it to me as the basis for a musical stage work was what we now quaintly and, alas, faintly recall as McCarthyism—an “ism” so akin to that Spanish Inquisition … as to curdle the blood. This was a period in the early ‘50s of our own century… when everything that America stood for seemed to be on the verge of being ground under the heel of that junior Senator from Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy and his inquisitorial henchmen. That was the time of the Hollywood Blacklist—television censorship, lost jobs, suicides, expatriation and the denial of passports to anyone even suspected of having once known a suspected
Communist.”
So, there was a compelling “why,” but the “how” was still a question. It was not for lack of talent or effort that Candide has had such a troubled theatrical journey to the final, triumphant “opera house” version arrived at in 1989. There have been seven official versions of Candide attempted over the years, with three distinct chapters in its development, the most interesting of which was the first. How could it be that such a powerhouse team as that assembled to put Candide on the stage should have failed so miserably with the public on its first run?
Most critics have laid the blame squarely on Hellman’s shoulders and what has been called her “ponderous book.” Those actually participating in the creation of the piece, according to Bernstein biographer Humphrey Burton, “blamed themselves as well as others.” Director Tyrone Guthrie had a uniquely sympathetic view of Hellman’s tireless work on this quixotic project:
“Hellman fought this battle with one hand tied behind her back. We had all agreed that when necessity demanded,we would choose singers to do justice to the score, rather than actors who could handle the text but for whom the score must be reduced. Consequently, line after line situation after situation fell flat on its face because—no blame to them—singers were asked to do something for which they had no gift nor experience nor understanding. Miss. Hellman stooped fatally to conquer. None of her good qualities as a writer showed to advantage. This was no medium for hard-hitting argument, shrewd, humorous characterization, the slow revelation of true values and the exposure of false ones.”
Hellman had had huge success in the theater. Author of The Children’s Hour and The Little Foxes (which was later adapted into the opera Regina by Marc Blitzstein), to name but two, Hellman had no experience with the Broadway musical and, according to lyricist Richard Wilbur, “didn’t really like musicians.” But Bernstein had faith in her genius. Or, perhaps, in his own. Guthrie felt that perhaps, the “diamond quality brilliance” of Bernstein seemed to quench “whatever share of lightness and gaiety and dash we might possibly have been able to contribute.” Wilbur bitterly recalled that Bernstein thought he could write lyrics better than the lyricists, and had to talk himself out of quitting after one encounter. But it is actually Bernstein’s score that has stood the test of time, and indeed, rescued the show from obscurity.
When the show opened, the critics’ reviews were mixed, but generally, if guardedly, favorable, with one memorable exception: a complete pan by Walter Kerr. But the public did not like it. The score was universally praised, but the libretto was characterized as “clumsy and plodding,” not to mention, “pretentious and freighted with allegory and symbol.” Although the show made it to New York in December of the same year as its cataclysmic Boston opening, it closed after only 73 performances. With typical show-biz flair, the Entertainment Newsletter for February 16, 1957 summed up the show’s failure thus: “What happened was that they put in too much longhair for Joe Schmoe, and too much crap for the longhair crew.”
Critic John Chapman, who himself liked the show, put it more bluntly, “It was O.P.E.R.A. [Also], it does not have a romantic plot according to Broadway standards and it does not have any songs in it which can be delivered by the disc jockeys or hung on the appalling dispiriting record racks of juke boxes in saloons and dining-car hash-houses.” In other words, no one could figure out what genre Candide belonged to. It was written for Broadway, but even Bernstein admitted in an article in The New York Times that it was an operetta, and that led to its billing being changed to “comic operetta,” potentially confusing the Broadway ticket buyers.
It was the release of the original-cast album that saved Candide from the “where-is-it-now?” file. This recording created a kind of cult following still in evidence today. Because of this, and the popularity of the overture in concert halls, interest in producing the show never really died. Instead, a string of versions and attempts to clean up the score and clarify the story proliferated, culminating in the highly successful 1973 Harold Prince version, which ran on Broadway for a happy and successful two years. But the music was gutted. In paring down the show to 103 minutes, Prince had thrown out the libretto and hired Hugh Wheeler to return to Voltaire and re-adapt the story. Stephen Sondheim was recruited to re-work some of the lyrics and John Mauceri came on board as the musical director. Music was moved around, taken out of order, given to different characters. Much of the music was lost, but a framework was gained. Positive reviews followed. But Bernstein, who was not involved in this version, was disappointed that so much was lost. As were opera houses, which began clamoring for an “opera house” version, to be based upon Wheeler’s book, and to include the music lost from the 1956 version. In 1982, for Scottish Opera, Mauceri obliged, and this time, Bernstein was included in the process.
This version kept some of the better features of the slick Broadway version, but also returned to Hellman’s scenario, which allowed much of the music to be reinstated. Nevertheless, the libretto is now credited to Hugh Wheeler, with lyrics by Richard Wilbur, and additional lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, John La Touche, Dorothy Parker, Lillian Hellman and Leonard Bernstein. Quite a gaggle of geniuses, still! It is this version that has found favor with the opera house and the version that Portland Opera will present.
Many of the questions that set Candide upon its meandering road in 1956 are unanswered today. Is it a musical comedy? Is it an opera? Operetta? The musical scope suggests an opera; certainly the demands placed on the singer would indicate this, but the treatment of the subject and the spoken dialogue evoke musical comedy or operetta. How does one make music theater out of satire? With Candide one can see how and why, even if one does not know what to call it. Ultimately, Candide is a delightful entertainment, and, perhaps, “in the best of all possible worlds,” that will be enough.
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
 | “How did I know he was going to become Leonard Bernstein?” —Samuel Bernstein, Leonard’s father
Samuel Bernstein never wanted his son to be a musician. A Russian Jewish immigrant who escaped the pogroms and literally worked his way up from penniless young man to an American success story with a good business to leave his son, Samuel Bernstein wanted more for his child than to become what he thought of as a wastrel klezmer. But Leonard was to grow into a cornerstone of American music, a conductor, composer and educator who introduced a generation of
Leonard Bernstein was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts on August 25, 1918. He made his conducting debut while attending Harvard University and in 1942, began his long association with Tanglewood. Bernstein became an overnight success in 1943 when he stepped in for an indisposed Bruno Walter and conducted a critically acclaimed radio broadcast of the New York Philharmonic.
From then on, Bernstein was a star. As a conductor, he was instantly recognizable through his affiliations with the New York City Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, Tanglewood, Brandeis, New York Philharmonic, Harvard and the Vienna Philharmonic. Despite his busy conducting and teaching schedule, Bernstein composed a variety of works, including Trouble in Tahiti (1952), Candide (1956), West Side Story (1957) and two more symphonies. His music is a skillful amalgamation of musical styles, incorporating jazz, dance rhythms, pop ballads and magnificent symphonic passages reminiscent of Mahler and Beethoven. Despite his popularity, or perhaps because of it, he struggled for many years with the musical establishment because his music was accessible and listenable, which, at the time, implied that it was not “artistic” or “serious.”
One of the reasons Bernstein is universally recognized as the first American musician to really achieve worldwide status as a conductor, composer, pianist, author and teacher was his affiliation with CBS. This fruitful partnership began in 1954, when he conducted Beethoven’s 5th for CBS’ "Omnibus." He then helped develop and teach the "Young People’s Concerts," which aired on CBS from 1958 to 1972. The Young People’s Concerts were many Americans’ introduction into the world of classical music.
His accomplishments with CBS brought Bernstein to the attention of Leo Kirch, who headed Unitel, a corporation that produced and distributed films for television and movie houses. Bernstein partnered with Unitel in 1971 and helped create 120 hours of programming, including his final production with Unitel on December 25, 1989, when he conducted Beethoven’s 9th Symphony from the fallen Berlin Wall. This concert was telecast live to more than 20 countries, reaching over 100 million viewers.
Having received so much support and inspiration from his mentors, Bernstein was dedicated to nurturing young musicians and so sought to develop programs to educate and inspire up and coming music makers. In addition to his teaching at Tanglewood, he established the Pacific Music Festival in Japan. Three months after its inauguration, Bernstein died on October 14, 1990. He was mourned by a world to which he had presented “serious” music in an accessible and unique way, and he destroyed the artificial barriers and assumptions about classical music which had intimidated lay audiences. His greatest legacy is creating relevance for classical music in the minds of many Americans and teaching them that music is for everyone and that it matters.
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Cal Stewart Kellogg - Conductor
Previously at Portland Opera: Street Scene, 2005
Cal Stewart Kellogg is Music Director of the Mesa Symphony Orchestra. He is also a regular guest of opera companies and symphony orchestras throughout the world.
 | Cal Stewart Kellogg - ConductorPreviously at Portland Opera: Street Scene, 2005 Cal Stewart Kellogg is Music Director of the Mesa Symphony Orchestra. He is also a regular guest of opera companies and symphony orchestras throughout the world. In North America, he enjoyed an uninterrupted sixteen year association with the Washington Opera (for whom he conducted twenty-four productions) and, for three seasons, was Principal Conductor of the Arizona Opera (for whom he has conducted fourteen productions) following three seasons as Music Director for the Austin Lyric Opera (for whom he conducted eight productions). Other companies for whom he has led productions include the Baltimore Opera, Canadian Opera, Calgary Opera, Cleveland Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Connecticut Opera, Edmonton Opera, Florentine Opera Company (Milwaukee), Houston Grand Opera, Kentucky Opera, Opera Columbus, L'Opera de Montreal, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Opera Lyra Ottawa, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Portland Opera, San Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera, Vancouver Opera, Utah Opera, plus the festivals at Chautauqua, Santa Fe, Spoleto and Wolf Trap. In Italy, he has led productions for the opera companies of Florence, Genoa, Naples and Parma. He has also conducted opera at the Edinburgh Festival and Israel Festival. In New York, he conducted Balfe's Bohemian Girl and The Tender Land at the Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse.
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Christopher Mattaliano - Director
Portland Opera's General Director
Christopher Mattaliano was named Portland Opera’s fifth General Director in July 2003. In this capacity, he is responsible for all artistic, financial, and administrative aspects of the company.
 | Christopher Mattaliano - DirectorPortland Opera's General Director Christopher Mattaliano was named Portland Opera’s fifth General Director in July 2003. In this capacity, he is responsible for all artistic, financial, and administrative aspects of the company.
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Jonathan Boyd - Candide
Tenor
Previously at Portland Opera: Jacquino, Fidelio, 2008; Tamino, The Magic Flute, 2007; Sam Kaplan, Street Scene, 2005
Tenor Jonathan Boyd continually performs throughout Europe, North America
and South America. Upcoming engagements include his Seattle Opera debut as
Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, his San Diego Opera debut in Jake Heggie’s Moby
Dick as Ishmael...
 | Jonathan Boyd - CandideTenorPreviously at Portland Opera: Jacquino, Fidelio, 2008; Tamino, The Magic Flute, 2007; Sam Kaplan, Street Scene, 2005
Tenor Jonathan Boyd continually performs throughout Europe, North America and South America. Upcoming engagements include his Seattle Opera debut as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, his San Diego Opera debut in Jake Heggie’s Moby Dick as Ishmael, his Atlanta Opera debut as Edgardo in Lucia Di Lammermoor,the title role of Candide at the Portland Opera, Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail at the Arizona Opera, Tamino in a concert version of Die Zauberflöte with Baltimore Symphony and Sam in Susannah with Florentine Opera.
Noted European engagements over the past few seasons include debuts at Opéra de Nice and Opéra de Toulon as Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Teatro Colón in a live television broadcast as Werther; Opera Royal de Wallonie in Belgium as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni; Le Grand Théâtre de Limoges as Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Fenton in Falstaff; Malta National Theater and Festival Lyrique-en-mer de Belle Île as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Opera Faber in Portugal, Théâtre de l’Athénée and St-Quentin en Yvelines in France as Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress, and his role debut as Alfredo in La Traviata with Akouna, Opéra en plein air in France.
The Corning, New York native has previously performed in San Francisco Opera’s productions of Falstaff, Turandot, The Merry Widow (released on DVD), and Mother of Us All. Since his apprenticeship with Florentine Opera of Milwaukee, Mr. Boyd has returned in numerous roles such as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni and Camille in The Merry Widow. In addition, Mr. Boyd made his role debuts as Sam in Street Scene with Portland Opera, Sam in Susannah with Opera Columbus and L’Opéra de Montréal, and several roles with the Sarasota Opera Nadir in Les Pêcheurs des Perles, Fenton in Falstaff, and Ferrando in Così Fan Tutte.
Mr. Boyd has an extensive repertoire in 20th century operas including Michigan Opera Theatre’s world premiere of Margaret Garner as George Hancock, and New York City Opera’s productions of Mother of Us All and Central Park. Composer Lee Hoiby personally chose Mr. Boyd for the role of Romeo in his opera Romeo and Juliet, which he subsequently sang in the semi-staged performances at the Opera America convention in Vancouver, as well as with New York City Opera, Stamford Symphony in Connecticut, and the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center.
Mr. Boyd has appeared in concert with the New York Philharmonic in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion conducted by Maestro Kurt Masur, the Philadelphia Orchestra in a recording of I Pagliacci with Maestro Riccardo Muti, the Choral Arts Society as Tenor Soloist in Haydn’s Creation at the Kennedy Center, at Carnegie Hall in Mozart’s Requiem, the Baltimore Symphony in Handel’s Messiah, as well
Learn at http://www.jonathanboyd-tenor.com/ |
Rachele Gilmore - Cunegonde
Soprano
Portland Opera Debut
Coloratura Soprano Rachele Gilmore has established herself as one of America’s leading young coloratura sopranos, combining a dynamic stage presence with a silvery timbre and effortless high register...
 | Rachele Gilmore - CunegondeSopranoPortland Opera Debut Coloratura Soprano Rachele Gilmore has established herself as one of America’s leading young coloratura sopranos, combining a dynamic stage presence with a silvery timbre and effortless high register.
http://www.rachelegilmore.com/about-me/ |
Robert Orth - Voltaire / Pangloss / Cacambo / Martin
Baritone
Previously at Portland Opera: Don Alfonso, Così fan tutte, 2010; Richard Nixon, Nixon in China, 2006; Barone di Trombonok, The Journey To Reims, 2004; Alfieri, A View From The Bridge, 2003; Voltaire/Pangloss/ Cacambo/Martin, Candide, 2002; Agamemnon, La Belle Helene, 2001; Ko-Ko, The Mikado, 2000...
 | Robert Orth - Voltaire / Pangloss / Cacambo / MartinBaritonePreviously at Portland Opera: Don Alfonso, Così fan tutte, 2010, Richard Nixon, Nixon in China, 2006, Barone di Trombonok, The Journey To Reims, 2004, Alfieri, A View From The Bridge, 2003, Voltaire/Pangloss/ Cacambo/Martin, Candide, 2002, Agamemnon, La Belle Helene, 2001, Ko-Ko, The Mikado, 2000, Truffaldino, The Love for Three Oranges, 1998, Sharpless, Madame Butterfly, 1996, Eisenstein, Die Fledermaus, 1994, Malatesta, Don Pasquale, 1990, Mercutio, Romeo et Juliette, 1987, Marco, Gianni Schicchi, 1985, Silvio, Pagliacci, 1985
Robert Orth is a leading baritone with major opera companies including those in New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto, Vancouver, Washington, D.C., Houston, Seattle, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Miami, Portland, Indianapolis, Cleveland, and Denver. He was named “Artist of the Year” by both New York City Opera and Seattle Opera. New York City Opera also gave him the Christopher Keene Award for new and unusual repertoire. He has appeared as soloist with the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Seattle, Denver, Indianapolis, Phoenix and Washington, D.C., in repertoire ranging from Brahms' Requiem to Broadway pops to his most repeated symphonic piece, Carmina Burana.
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Ann McMahon Quintero - Old Lady
Mezzo Soprano
Portland Opera Debut
Praised for her "crème caramel tones" and "warm and ingratiating mezzo" (Albuquerque Journal), Ann McMahon Quintero's engagements in the 2011-12 season include performances of Azucena in Il Trovatore with Opéra Royal de Wallonie...
 | Ann McMahon Quintero - Old LadyMezzo SopranoPortland Opera Debut
Praised for her "crème caramel tones" and "warm and ingratiating mezzo" (Albuquerque Journal), Ann McMahon Quintero's engagements in the 2011-12 season include performances of Azucena in Il Trovatore with Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Dame Quickly in Falstaff with Opéra de Lausanne, and the Old Lady in Candide with Portland Opera. In the 2010-11 season, Ms. Quintero's engagements included performances of Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night's Dream with Boston Lyric Opera, and the Verdi Requiem with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
http://www.barrettvantage.com/artist.php?id=amquintero&aview=bio |
Caitlin Mathes - Paquette
Mezzo Soprano
Previously at Portland Opera: Soloist in the Big Night Concert (2011)
Mezzo soprano Caitlin Mathes is from Dayville, Connecticut. Her opera credits include: Frog/Hen in The Cunning Little Vixen, Graduate in Street Scene (Chautauqua Opera Theatre)...
 | Caitlin Mathes - PaquetteMezzo SopranoPreviously at Portland Opera: Soloist in the Big Night Concert (2011) Mezzo soprano Caitlin Mathes is from Dayville, Connecticut. Her opera credits include: Frog/Hen in The Cunning Little Vixen, Graduate in Street Scene (Chautauqua Opera Theatre); Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro (Opera Theater and Music Festival, Lucca, Italy); Idamante in Idomeneo, La Marchande in Les Mamelles de Tiresias, Ruggiero in Alcina, Lady with a hat box in Postcard from Morocco, Ottavia in L’incoronazione di Poppea, Bianca in Lucrezia Project (College Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati); Secretary in The Consul, Dorabella in Così fan tutte (Ithaca College). She was a member of the Young Artist programs at San Francisco Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Chautauqua Opera. This season Ms. Mathes will sing Kate Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly, Maria Maddelena in Galileo Galilei and Paquette in Candide. Learn more about Caitlin at her website |
André Chiang - Maximilian
Baritone
Previously at Portland Opera: Soloist in the Big Night Concert
Baritone André Chiang is from Mobile, Alabama. His opera credits include: Sciarrone in Tosca, El Gallo in The Fantasticks, Masetto in Don Giovanni (Shreveport Opera)...
 | André Chiang - MaximilianBaritonePreviously at Portland Opera: Younger Galileo / Salviati in Galileo Galilei (2012); Yamadori / Registrar in Madame Butterfly (2012); Soloist in the Big Night Concert (2011)
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Mark A. Thomsen - Governor / Vanderdendurde / Ragotski
Tenor
Previously at Portland Opera: Romeo, Roméo et Juliette (1997); Don Ottavio, Don Giovanni (1989)
As one of America’s most accomplished tenors, Mark Thomsen enjoys a successful career in critically acclaimed performances.
 | Mark A. Thomsen - Governor / Vanderdendurde / RagotskiTenorPreviously at Portland Opera: Romeo, Roméo et Juliette (1997); Don Ottavio, Don Giovanni (1989) Often working repetitively with major companies, Mr. Thomsen has performed to acclaim at the New York City Opera as the title role in La Clemenza di Tito, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Alfredo in La Traviata, Camille in The Merry Widow, Nadir in Les Pêcheurs des Perles, the Prince in The Student Prince, and the premiere of Argento’s Casanova. At the Dallas Opera, he has performed Don Jose in Carmen, the Doctor in Argento’s The Voyage of Edgar Allan Poe, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Pinkerton. At the Houston Grand Opera performances include Don Ottavio, Tamino, Ferrando in Cosi Fan Tutte, Faust in Faust, Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Des Grieux in Manon. He is a house favorite at the Santa Fe Opera performing in over 15 productions, with performances including Tamino, Ferrando, Flamand in Capriccio, the title role in the American Premiere of von Bose’s The Sorrows of Young Werther, Henry Morosus in Die Schweigsame Frau, the Steuermann in Der Fliegende Holländer, a Strauss double-bill of Friedenstag und Feuersnot, Daniel in the American premiere of Siegfried Matthus’s Judith, Millais in the world premiere of David Lang’s Modern Painters and the world premiere of Peter Lieberson’s Ashoka’s Dream. Most recent engagements from the past several seasons include Don Jose in Carmen at the Dallas Opera, Indianapolis Opera, and at the Lyric Opera of Chicago with Denyce Graves; Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail at Lyric Opera of Kansas City and at the Metropolitan Opera (cover); Nicias in Thaïs with Boston Lyric Opera and Palm Beach Opera; Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Nicias in Thaïs, and Eustazio in Armida covers at the Metropolitan Opera; Don Ottavio and the Mozart Requiem at the Spoleto Festival U.S.A.; the title role in Les Contes d’Hoffmann and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at Opera Lyra Ottawa; Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus with Manitoba Opera; Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Opera Carolina; Danilo and Rodolfo in La Bohème with Indianapolis Opera; Ernesto in Don Pasquale with Orlando Opera; Tamino in The Magic Flute with Cleveland Opera; as well as his role debut as Cavaradossi in Tosca with Spokane Opera. Additional notable engagements have included the title role in the American premiere of Lowell Liebermann’s The Picture of Dorian Gray with Florentine Opera, Camp Williams in Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree with both Austin Lyric Opera and Kansas City Opera, Lenski in Eugene Onegin with Indianapolis Opera, the title role in Werther and Jenik in The Bartered Bride with Washington National Opera, Lennie in Of Mice and Men and the title role in Les Contes d’Hoffmann with Edmonton Opera, Fenton in Falstaff with Opera Omaha, and Roméo in Roméo et Juliette with Portland Opera. Mr. Thomsen made his European debut in the world premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s A Quiet Place, televised live in Europe, recorded by the Deutsche Grammophon, and subsequently performed at the Teatro alla Scala and at the Kennedy Center. Other European engagements have included Don Ottavio, Tamino, Stanislaus in Der Vögelhandler, René in The Count of Luxembourg, Simon in The Beggar Student, and the Count in A Night in Venice all with the Vienna Volksoper. He has performed Alfred in Die Fledermaus and Camille in The Merry Widow on the Volksoper tour to Japan, joined the Vienna Staatsoper as Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and made his Opéra de Nantes debut as Belmonte. Learn more at Mark A. Thomsen's website. |
Baritone Robert Orth in Candide
Resident Lecturer & Historian Bob Kingston discusses Candide
Two Minute Candide
Leonard Bernstein conducting the Candide overture.
Rachele Gilmore, who will sing Cunegonde in Portland Opera's Candide, recently made her Metropolitan Opera debut in the role of Olympia in The Tales of Hoffman
Listen to the Music
Unfortunately, we are unable to provide musical excerpts for Leonard Bernstein's Candide.
Schedule
May 11, 2012
Friday 7:30 pm
Friday 7:30 pm
May 13, 2012
Sunday 2:00 pm
Sunday 2:00 pm
May 17, 2012
Thursday 7:30 pm
Thursday 7:30 pm
May 19, 2012
Saturday 7:30 pm
Saturday 7:30 pm
Tickets
By Phone: Portland Opera Box Office, 503-241-1802, Toll-free 866-739-6737, (Mon – Fri, 9:00am–5:00pm). Ticketmaster, (800) 982-ARTS (days, evenings, and weekends).
In-Person: Portland Opera Box Office, 211 SE Caruthers St. (just south of OMSI, off Water Ave.) Mon – Fri, 9:00am – 5:00pm. Ticketmaster outlets, Portland Center for the Performing Arts (SW Broadway & Main).